NHTSA Investigates Uber Partner Avride Over Robotaxi Crashes
Background
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has initiated an investigation into Avride, an autonomous vehicle partner of Uber, following a series of crashes involving its robotaxis in Dallas.
The Incidents
Between December 2025 and March 2026, Avride’s Hyundai Ioniq 5 robotaxis crashed 16 times, resulting in one minor injury. These incidents included:
- Changing lanes into the path of other vehicles without slowing or stopping.
- Failing to react to slow-moving and stationary objects on the road.
- Hitting objects like dumpsters and a parked pickup truck’s open door.
NHTSA’s Findings
The NHTSA characterized Avride’s self-driving system as "excessively assertive and insufficiently capable". This critique reflects broader industry challenges in deploying autonomous vehicles before they can consistently prevent accidents.
About Avride
Avride, a subsidiary of Nebius (formerly Yandex NV), was launched with significant resources, including 1,300 employees and $2.5 billion in cash. It inherited Yandex’s self-driving technology, which had been under development since 2017.
Uber Partnership
Uber formed a partnership with Avride in October 2024, launching a robotaxi service in Dallas on December 3, 2025. The companies planned to scale Avride’s fleet to 500 vehicles and invest up to $375 million. Avride also operates sidewalk delivery robots for Uber Eats and Grubhub at various locations.
NHTSA’s Investigation Scope
The NHTSA investigation focuses on the "competence" of Avride’s self-driving system, covering all crashes related to its performance. The agency noted that some incidents might also constitute traffic safety violations.
Uber’s Strategy
Uber’s first-quarter 2026 earnings reported a tenfold increase in autonomous trips year over year, reflecting its strategy to integrate multiple partners into its ride-hailing platform rather than developing its own self-driving technology.